Chapter 25 Environmental Law

State Regulations

-May restrict a business's discharge of chemicals into the air or water or regulate its disposal of toxic wastes. - May regulate the disposal or recycling of other wastes, including glass, metal, plastic containers, and paper. -May restrict emissions from motor vehicles.

Local Regulations

-Zoning laws to inhibit or regulated growth of cities -Impose rules regulating methods of waste removal, the appearance of buildings, and maximum noise level

Four primary elements of CERCLA, or Superfund

1. It established an information-gathering and analysis system that enables the government to identify chemical dump sites and determine the appropriate action. 2. It authorized the EPA to respond to emergencies and to arrange for the clean-up of a leaking site directly if the persons responsible fail to clean up the site within a reasonable time. 3. It created a Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (also called Superfund) to pay for the clean-up of hazardous sites using funds obtained through taxes on certain businesses. 4. It allowed the government to recover the clean-up costs from persons who were (even remotely) responsible for hazardous substance releases.

Clean Water Act Goals

1. Make waters safe for swimming 2. Protect fish and wildlife, and 3. Eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the water

An EIS must analyze the following:

1. The impact that the action will have on the environment. 2. Any adverse effects on the environment and alternative actions that might be taken. 3. Any irreversible effects the action might generate.

Potentially Responsible Party (PRP)

1. The person who generated the wastes disposed of at the site. 2. The person who transported the wastes to the site. 3. The person who owned or operated the site at the time of the disposal. 4. The current owner or operator of the site.

Toxic Torts

A civil wrong arising from exposure to a toxic substance, such as asbestos, radiation, or hazardous waste.

Nuisance

A common law doctrine under which persons may be held liable for using their property in a manner that unreasonably interferes with others' rights to use or enjoy their own property

Environmental Impact Statement

A formal analysis required for any major federal action that will significantly affect the quality of the environment to determine the action's impact and explore alternatives.

Potentially Responsible Party (PRP)

A party liable for the costs of cleaning up a hazardous-waste disposal site under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

Public Nuisance

An owner's use of land that causes damage or inconvenience to the general public at large

Superfund

Another name for The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

Oil Pollution Act

Any oil facility, oil shipper, vessel owner, or vessel operator that discharges oil into navigable waters or onto an adjoining shore may be liable for clean-up costs and damages. The polluter can also be ordered to pay for damage to natural resources, private property, and the local economy, including the increased cost of providing public services.

Negligence

Based on a business's alleged failure to use reasonable care toward a party whose injury was foreseeable and was caused by the lack of reasonable care.

Violations of the Clean Water Act

Civil penalties range from $10,000 to $25,000 per day, but not ore than $25,000 per violation. Criminal penalties apply only if a violation was intentional. Criminal penalties range from a fine of $2,500 per day and imprisonment for up to one year to a fine of $1 million and fifteen years' imprisonment.

Violations of the Clean Air Act

Civil penalties up to $25,000/day. Intentional violations: Fines of up to $1 million and imprisonment for up to two years.

Violation of Ocean Dumping Act

Civil penalty of up to $50,000. A knowing violation is a criminal offense that may result in a $50,000 fine, imprisonment for not more than a year, or both. A court may also grant an injunction to prevent an imminent or continuing violation.

Other federal agencies with authority to regulate specific environmental matter

Department of the Interior, the Department of Defense, the Department of Labor, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Negligence

Employees might sue an employer whose failure to use proper pollution controls has contaminated the air, causing the employees to suffer respiratory illnesses

Private Nuisance

If an individual can identify a harm to his property rights distinct from that suffered by others then he may get relief for _________

Innocent Landowner Defense

Most important defense against CERCLA, the landowner must show, among other things, that at the time the property was acquired, she or he had no reason to know that it had been used for hazardous waste disposal

Superfund

Regulates the clean up of disposal sites in which hazardous waste is leaking into the environment.

Mobile Sources

Sources of air pollutants that move from place to place, example: automobiles, trucks, buses, and trains

Strict Liability

Superfund imposes __________________ on PRPs, and that liability cannot be avoided through transfer of ownership.

Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act

To allow developers who comply with state voluntary clean-up programs to avoid federal liability for the properties that they decontaminate and develop.

Clean Air Act

To control air pollution from mobile and stationary sources.

Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

To control the use of pesticides and herbicides

The Resources Conservation and Recovery Act

To determine which forms of solid waste should be considered hazardous and to establish regulations to monitor and control hazardous waste disposal.

Federal Water Pollution Control Act

To eliminate the discharge of pollutants from major sources into navigable waters.

National Environmental Policy Act

To limit environmental harm from federal government activities.

Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act

To prohibit ships and manufacturers from discharging and depositing refuse in navigable waterways.

Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (Ocean Dumping Act)

To prohibit the dumping of radiological, chemical, and biological warfare agents and high-level radioactive waste into the ocean.

Endangered Species Act

To protect species that are threatened with extinction.

Safe Drinking Water Act

To regulate pollutants in public drinking water systems.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, or Superfund)

To regulate the clean-up of hazardous waste disposal sites.

Toxic Substances Control Act

To regulate toxic chemicals and chemical compounds such as asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls. The act also controls the introduction of new chemical compounds by requiring investigation of any possible harmful effects from these substances.

Safe Drinking Water Act

Under the act, each supplier of drinking water is required to send an annual statement describing the source of its water to every household it supplies. The statement must also disclose the level of any contaminants in the water and any possible health concerns associated with the contaminants.

National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)

Under this system any point source emitting pollutants (which include industrial, municipal, and agricultural facilities) into water must have a permit. Pollution not from point sources, such as runoff from small farms, is not subject to much regulation.

Oil Pollution Act

When more than 10 million gallons of oil leaked into Alaska's Prince William Sound from the Exxon Valdez supertanker in 1989, Congress responded by passing the ______________

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

an independent federal agency established to enforce regulations which seek to protect public health and the environment

Stationary Sources

non-moving sources of pollution, such as factories, plants